Asleep at the Switch: A Tragedy in Bayou Country
By Bonnie Chernin Rogoff (09/06/05)
It was horrifying to watch the post-Katrina devastation emerge in front of us. Looting and mayhem became the norm as large groups of Louisiana’s poorest and most needy citizens took to the streets in search of shelter and safety. Instead they found an Orwellian society where government officials held up four fingers and told its citizenry there were five. Help was coming and already on its way they heard, as they starved in the Superdome and Convention Center amid the rotting corpses of those who had found final peace and salvation.
The lack of government support and readiness for this disaster has been appalling. There was plenty of blame to go around, from the inaction of state and local officials who for years were always under the cloud of suspicion for corruption, and the federal government’s slow response. Using the massive flooding as an excuse for the government’s inability to deliver on its mandate to protect its citizens is just plain wrong and highlights even larger issues of concern. The United States has at its disposal small boats, helicopters and planes that could have dropped bottled water, baby formula, basic toiletries and military ready-to-eat meals to the thousands stuck in the Superdome and Convention Center.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Michael Brown, deserves most of the blame for the federal government’s inaction. He and his agency seemed as paralyzed and disoriented as the drowning inhabitants of New Orleans. Brown has been correctly portrayed as a political hack lacking the real world experience necessary to be proactive ahead of an impending disaster. His curriculum vitae lists as his last position enforcing rules relating to the breeding of Arabian horses. The reorganization of FEMA under the Homeland Security department must also be evaluated in light of this tragedy.
The true first line of defense against any natural disaster should be the responsibility of the state and local government. It is here that Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco failed miserably. Neither of these officials has been challenged by the media as to why a contingency plan was not in effect for New Orleans. The original Indian inhabitants warned the French of flooding problems in the area. Today, computer simulation models indicate the total devastation that could occur from a powerful storm like Katrina. Therefore, there should have in place an evacuation plan on the government’s radar screen. How many school buses, police cars, fire trucks and ambulances were destroyed instead of being safely moved to areas where they could be effectively utilized for evacuating the poor?
Blanco, and particularly Nagin, need to tone down their rhetoric and vitriol against the Bush Administration and look inwards. Their words only inflame the radical hyperbole coming from activists trying to make this tragedy a racial issue. It is insulting to listen to these leaders portray federal officials as wanting to ignore the New Orleans disaster because those most affected by it are black and poor.
Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has and will continue to take the biggest hit in the blame game. The media will continue to highlight the true heroics and valor of actor Sean Penn rescuing stranded citizens in New Orleans and focus on federal officials standing on safe ground. As unfair as this appears, the marketing and actions of President Bush and his administration will dodge him for the next three and a half years. This may impact his abilities to further his administration’s goals regarding judicial appointments, tax and Social Security reform and an energy policy. The Democrats will use this tragedy to stymie further government action despite the potential toll it will take on ordinary citizens.
The best thing the Bush Administration can do in the short-term is to fire FEMA director Michael Brown. Secondly, it must pledge to examine the reorganization of FEMA under the Homeland Security umbrella. Lastly, let’s get some more high profile administration officials, including the president, on the ground in New Orleans to counter this public relations disaster. Hopefully Louisiana residents will have enough common sense not to re-elect Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco.
Copyright 2005 by Bonnie Chernin Rogoff. All rights reserved.
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